Friday, April 27, 2012

Bahrain - Old Khamis Mosque

Old Khamis Mosque in Kingdom of Bahrain.

Sent by Euna from Bahrain.

This is from Wikipedia : The Khamis Mosque (Arabic: مسجد الخميس‎; transliterated: Masjid al-Khamys) is believed to be the first mosque in Bahrain, built during the era of the Umayyad caliph Umar II. The identical twin minarets of this ancient Islamic monument make it easily noticeable as one drives along the Shaikh Salman Road in Khamis. It is considered to be one of the oldest relics of Islam in the region, and the foundation of this mosque is believed to have been laid as early as 692 AD. An inscription found on the site, however, suggests a foundation date sometimes during the 11th Century. It has since been rebuilt twice in both 14th & 15th centuries, when the minarets were constructed. The Khamis mosque has been partially restored recently.

Islam was propagated to Bahrain in the 7th century AD when Muhammad sent an envoy Al-Ala'a Al-Hadrami, preaching Islam to the Governor of Qatar and Bahrain at the time, Munzir ibn Sawa Al Tamimi.

While welcoming any postcards from countries not in my collections, we are currently concentrating on getting postcards (stamped and postmarked) from the following countries/states/territories/regions/themes :